Yesterday was my birthday and I treated myself and bought some new bullets to reload for my 357 magnum hunting round this year. I am currently shooting a S&W 586-3 with a 6" tube. Here is what I bought.

For cases I have Federal, R-P, Winchester, Fiochi and PMC.
For Primers I have CCI Small Pistol (CCI-SP) Primers, Winchester Small Pistol Magnum Primers (WSPM) and Winchester Small Rifle (WSR) Primers.
As far as Powders go I have 2400, H110 and Lil'Gun.

As I was inspecting the bullets I noticed that the cannelure on the Remington 180 grainers is a lot closer to the base of the bullet than the cannelure on the Sierra and Hornady bullets. Based on this, there is going to be more room for powder in the case beneath the Remingtons than there will be for the other bullets.

I have already made up some test round with the Lil-Gun and the Hornandy Bullets using the PMC Brass and WSPM primers.

Actually, I haven't done much with .357 Mag...just too many other irons in the fire. Yeah, yeah, blasphemy, I know. As a munch of old timers say, if you can't accomplish what you want with the gun you have, move up in caliber!

My rule of thumb is if I change anything, I go back to a starting load and try it again from there. You don't have to load quite as many, but just enough across the board to watch the speeds. In a good pistol, you won't see much for pressure signs on the brass, so stick to known loads and don't try to burn the house down.

One concern you may have with those low cannelure bullets is that a loaded cartridge might not fit in the cylinder. Mock one up and try it. No one ever said you have to seat at the cannelure, but pressures rise as the bullet goes deeper, so account for that in your loads.

Go to "the Campfire" at www.sixguns.com and you might eb able to get a little more info about loads.

Don't use the "Max load" phrase or John Taffin will cut you down in a heart beat!

Ben is absolutely right. 180 gr. hardcast lead bullets with a flattish nose in front of an appropriate amount of 2400 is great deer and hog medicine. And a heavy crimp is essential. These loads go whomp at my end, and whomp when they get there.

Use the search feature to find my thread: C.R.Sam & WESHOOT2 ANSWERS PLEASE. How to use your chrono for load development was covered very well in this thread.

Remember: If max velocity comes at the expense of accuracy and/or reliability then it's useless. (It also means you're most likely trying to do something that should be done with a bigger or more powerful caliber anyway)

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